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attendees, in March 2006 and last year’s Management World India (March 2007) attracted 370 registrations.”

“The programs incorporate a number of local service providers, giving an update on their latest initiatives and planned activities,” says Mayhew. “There are also a number of service providers from other parts of the world and major industry players, specifically addressing the areas of immediate and more pressing concern within the Middle East and India.

The larger TMW shows have included an expanded focus on content, with the 07 Dallas show introducing the multi-million dollar 'Content Encounter' installation. Mayhew says that the regional events will include the same expanded focus.

In terms of job title, Mayhew expects 35% executives at the C and VP level, as well as 22% managers, 16% architects/engineer/IT professionals, 16% marketing personnel, 5% analysts and consultants and 6% others.

In terms of sector, the breakdown is 30-40% CSPs, 30-35% vendors, 25-30% systems integrators, and 15-20% other. This is similar, Mayhew says, to the TMF's other events.

Speakers for the Dubai event include:

Martin Creaner, TM Forum – chairing and presenting on TM Forum Strategies and Role for the 21C

• Mohamed Rabie El Sheikh, Mobile Telecommunications Company

• Abdiqadir Ibrahim Yusef, Etisalat UAE

• Marcus Becker, Deutsche Telekom AG
  

Plus speakers from: Wipro Technologies, Vodafone D2, PSI Transcom GmbH, TME Consulting, Capgemini Telecom & Media, Oracle Corporation, Telcordia Technologies, Clarity International Ltd, PT Telkom Indonesia, AT&T, Subex Azure, SabaFon Yemen, Intec Telecom Systems PLC and BearingPoint.

The India event promises:

Keith Willetts, Chairman & CEO, TM Forum (and conference Chair)

• Mr R.N. Padakone, Department of Telecom, Government of India

• Sumit Chowdhury, Reliance

These events are designed as places for interaction and discussion, with expo floors limited to fewer than 10 display areas and plenty of interaction between presenters and attendees.

That focus is necessary. These events have great potential as regional complements to the major, worldwide events. They're clearly not intended to be competitors for the major events, and we've found that attendees from all over tend to show up at both major events, showing that traditional regional preferences are not as strong as they once were. The Americas event is about as likely to feature companies from EMEA or AsiaPac as the TMW- Nice event, though the latter is positioned as a more worldwide show.

Still, small, focused events have their place in the market. Mayhew told us that these events will be the precursors to several more in the next few years. “Further events are planned for Africa, SE Asia and South America and possibly also for Central and Eastern Europe through 2008 and 2009.”

Information on both events can be found on the events page of the TM Forum site, at www.tmforum.org/events.